Huawei Mate X3 vs Xiaomi MIX Fold 2

We’re here to compare two very thin book-style foldable smartphones, the Huawei Mate X3 vs Xiaomi MIX Fold 2. Many would argue that both of these phones trump Samsung hardware-wise. They both fold flat, are extremely thin, and have better crease control than the Galaxy Z Fold 4. Unfortunately, though, the Xiaomi MIX Fold 2 launched in China only, and the Huawei Mate X3 comes without Google services. It at least launched outside of China, though.

That being said, comparing these two phones should be quite interesting. We’ll first list their specifications, and will then move to compare their designs, displays, performance, battery life, cameras, and audio performance. Let’s get started, shall we?

Specs

Huawei Mate X3 vs Xiaomi MIX Fold 2: Design

Both of these phones are book-style foldables, and both of them are quite thin for that form factor. They do feel different in the hand, though, and there are a number of differences when it comes to their designs. The Huawei Mate X3 is shorter and narrower than the Xiaomi MIX Fold 2, which is understandable as it has slightly smaller displays. They’re about the same thickness, the difference is well under 1mm. That goes for both their folded and unfolded states.

The Huawei Mate X3 is only 5.3mm thick when unfolded, and 11.8mm when folded. The Xiaomi MIX Fold 2 measures 5.4mm when unfolded, and 11.2mm when folded. The Mate X3 does have a major advantage when it comes to weight, though. It weighs only 239 or 241 grams (depending on the model), compared to 262 grams of the Xiaomi MIX Fold 2. It’s important for such massive devices to be as light as possible, as they’re quite hefty in general.

The Mate X3 comes in both glass and eco leather variants, while the Xiaomi MIX Fold 2 has a glass backplate. Their frames are made out of metal, of course. Their bezels are quite thin, and both phones include display camera holes on all their displays. Their rear camera islands do look fairly different, the Mate X3’s is larger and round, unlike the one on the Xiaomi MIX Fold 2. The Mate X3 also has the advantage in the form of water resistance, it comes with IPX8 water resistance. Both devices feel like premium phones. They fold flat, and have great crease control. The experience with the Mate X3’s hinge trumps what the Xiaomi MIX Fold 2 offers, though.

Huawei Mate X3 vs Xiaomi MIX Fold 2: Display

The Huawei Mate X3 includes a 7.85-inch 2224 x 2496 main display. This is a foldable OLED panel that can project up to 1 billion colors. It also supports a 120Hz refresh rate. The cover display measures 6.4 inches, and it comes with a fullHD+ (2504 x 1080) resolution. It supports a 120Hz refresh rate, and this panel is protected by Huawei’s Kunlun glass, which has proven to be quite tough.

The Xiaomi MIX Fold 2, on the other hand, includes an 8.02-inch 1914 x 2160 foldable LTPO2 OLED display. This panel can project up to 1 billion colors as well, and it also offers a 120Hz refresh rate. It supports HDR10+ content, and also has Dolby Vision support. This panel goes up to 1,300 nits of brightness at its peak. The cover display on the phone measures 6.56 inches, and it’s an AMOLED panel. This display has a 120Hz refresh rate support, and the same goes for HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. This display goes up to 1,300 nits of brightness as well. It is protected by the Gorilla Glass Victus.

All four displays are excellent, actually. Not only do they have vivid colors, great viewing angles, and are more than sharp enough, but they also support high refresh rates. The touch response is good on all of them, not to mention that the main displays have great crease control. They also get bright enough, that goes for all of these displays. So, there’s not really much to complain about here, to be quite honest.

Huawei Mate X3 vs Xiaomi MIX Fold 2: Performance

The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC can be found inside both of these smartphones. The thing is, in the Huawei Mate X3, it’s limited to 4G connectivity due to the US ban. The Mate X3 comes with 12GB of RAM. We’re not sure if Huawei used LPDDR5 or 5X RAM. The same goes for storage, UFS is used, but we’re not sure if it’s UFS 3.1 or 4.0. Having said that, the Xiaomi MIX Fold 2 includes 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM, and UFS 3.1 flash storage.

The performance is excellent on both phones. Do note that the Mate X3 doesn’t include Google services, while the Xiaomi MIX Fold 2 does, but you’ll have to install Google apps, and the phone doesn’t sell globally. Now, everything runs smoothly on both devices. They’re excellent in regular, simple tasks, and gaming alike. You can run basically any game with ease on these two phones, and they don’t even get hot. They do get warm during gaming sessions, but not to extreme levels. These two phones are actually some of the smoothest(-performing) foldable devices on the market at the moment.

Huawei Mate X3 vs Xiaomi MIX Fold 2: Battery

The Huawei Mate X3 includes a 4,800mAh battery on the inside, while the Xiaomi MIX Fold 2 comes with a 4,500mAh unit. The Mate X3 has a larger battery despite the fact it has smaller displays. Does that reflect on its battery life, though? Well, yes, you could say that. The Huawei Mate X3 does offer better battery life than the MIX Fold 2, though your mileage may vary, of course.

The Xiaomi MIX Fold 2 battery is not too impressive, in all honesty. Getting around 6 hours of screen-on-time is easily possible. The Mate X3 can cross that 7-hour screen-on-time mark with ease. It’s possible you’ll get different results, of course. It will all depend on the apps you have installed, your usage, your network signal, and so on. So… do take note of that. Generally speaking, though, the Mate X3 has more to offer in the battery life department.

What about Charging? Well, the Huawei Mate X3 has the upper hand in that regard too. It supports 66W wired, 50W wireless, and 7.5W reverse wireless charging. The Xiaomi MIX Fold 2 offers support for 67W wired charging only. The good news is, both smartphones do come with a charger in the box.

Huawei Mate X3 vs Xiaomi MIX Fold 2: Cameras

Both of these phones include three cameras on the back. The Huawei Mate X3 has a 50-megapixel main camera, a 13-megapixel ultrawide unit, and a 12-megapixel periscope telephoto camera (5x optical zoom). The Xiaomi MIX Fold 2 includes a 50-megapixel main camera, a 13-megapixel ultrawide unit (123-degree FoV), and an 8-megapixel telephoto camera (2x optical zoom).

Now, both devices do perform great overall. When it comes to the main camera during the day, you’ll get nice-looking, sharp photos from both phones. The Mate X3 could have a slightly better dynamic range, but other than that, everything is great. The pictures from it even look a bit more realistic than the ones from the MIX Fold 2. They both perform great in low light, with minimal noise.

Both ultrawide cameras do a good job overall, though the Mate X3 does have a slight advantage in low light. It also packs in a more capable telephoto camera, with its 5x optical zoom. That camera also does a better job in low light. The Xiaomi MIX Fold 2’s offering is not bad, but it’s not on the same level. Xiaomi should have avoided using an 8-megapixel unit here, first of all.

Audio

There is a set of stereo speakers on both smartphones, and both of them sound great. The speakers on both phones are quite thin, but that doesn’t stop them from sounding full, and being quite loud at the same time.

You will not find an audio jack on either of these two devices. You’ll have to use their Type-C ports in order to achieve wired audio connections. If you prefer to go wireless, do note that both smartphones offer Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity.